The cost of air conditioning
My dad was unquestionably strict, however at the time that was common. He ruled the home with an iron fist, and that isn’t to say it was mean, it just meant he had a set of rules that he enforced 100% of the time. He was a military vet, from 16 years in the Marines, so he was a person of discipline, however not a person of violence. He never hit us, or even yelled at us, although he typically enforced his rules. Both of us had to get fantastic grades, get lots of exercise, and watch our language around adults. Both of us were forbidden from ever touching the thermostat, however once my brother and I got into a fight right next to the thermostat, and almost tore it off the wall, and after that things got worse. Dad put a locking plexiglass dome over the thermostat, and had the only key to unlock it, but now he would let the home get sizzling just as a punishment! My brothers and I decided to pool our allowance money, and whatever savings all of us had, to buy a small, window-mounted a/c unit for our study room. This way all of us could determine our own level of cooling, and wouldn’t have to fight with Dad about it. It worked out great for a few weeks, and then Dad brought us a utility bill and said all of us had to pay for our own cooling. Air conditioning uses a lot of power, which is why he never wanted us messing around with the thermostat. Now that all of us had our own A/C all of us had to keep paying for it every week!